The Hindu : Sport : Marauding Australians lift DLF Cup

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 25, 2006
ePaper

Sport

Sport

Marauding Australians lift DLF Cup

S. Ram Mahesh

Brett Lee breathes fire as the Caribbena surrender meekly at the final hurdle

AWESOME BRIGADE: The Australian team after defeating the West Indies in the final on Sunday. — Photo: S. Subramanium

Kuala Lumpur: The West Indies's best chance of overhauling Australia's 240 — and lifting the DLF Cup — once Brett Lee torpedoed a toe-killer past Chris Gayle's dangling bat off the first ball of the innings involved Brian Lara tapping his genius. The West Indies skipper had looked on in concern as Gayle iced his foot under an oversized umbrella by the boundary rope while Runako Morton scratched around for a 31-ball duck in the middle.

Morton's departure — after beating Phil Simmons's 23-baller against New Zealand at Goa in 1994 for the title of the slowest ever ODI duck — brought a determined-looking Lara to the fray. A decisive leave outside off-stump was followed by a cover drive of considerable allure. But, the 37-year-old was adjudged caught behind when he clearly hadn't nicked it, and Sunday's final effectively ceased to remain a contest.

Grim battle

Ramnaresh Sarwan hung on grimly, blitzing a drive through cover and pulling on occasion; Dwayne Smith glowered defiantly, slog-sweeping Symonds out of the Kinrara Oval and following it up with the stroke of the match: a quick-draw pull that cowboys in the Wild West would have tipped their hats to. These were, however, mere irritants in the relentless Australian surge towards a win. Keeper Brad Haddin caught Carlton Baugh's steepling top-edge off Lee to signal the start of delirious celebrations. The margin of victory — a whopping 127 runs.

Lee's four for 24 complemented fine half-centuries from Damien Martyn and Andrew Symonds earlier in the day on a glue-pot wicket. The duo added a crucial 73 for the fifth wicket before Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin finished in style as 46 came off the final five overs.

Gamesmanship

The Lara decision raised serious questions about the standards of umpiring in this tournament and the gamesmanship of the Australians. While both umpire Mark Benson and Ricky Ponting's men may be given the benefit of the doubt in this case — Lara's pad was brushed by his bat as the ball passed it — the fact that this followed the shocking appeal against Sachin Tendulkar on Friday seemed to confirm a worrying trend: Australia, in times of desperation, is not averse to pushing the envelop of acceptable behaviour. That Lara exchanged words with the huddled Australians as he left the field made it look worse. Murmurs of the Ugly Aussie rearing its head did the rounds, but the incident shouldn't detract too much from an excellent all-round performance. The dampness of the wicket forced the Australians to rethink strategy, and play the extra batsman in Damien Martyn instead of left-arm wrist spinner Brad Hogg.

Bowlers call the shots

The West Indies bowlers made excellent use of the opportunity Ponting handed them to bowl first. Ian Bradshaw, in particular, seemed to exert a near hypnotic pull on Simon Katich, who bottom-handed a six, but still managed only 25 in 65 balls. Ponting got one that kept low, and when Martyn and Symonds were brought together the score read a laborious 80 for three in 23.4 overs.

Martyn at his best is batsman full of the most suave strokes: all products of a distinctly un-Australian bat flow. The right-handed artist hasn't been in the best of touch this tournament, and he set about finding it. Symonds too has struggled. The dread-locked giant began circumspectly, but exploded in the 36th over, whipping Bravo over mid-wicket for six and creaming Gayle over long-on.

SCOREBOARD

Australia: S. Watson c Gayle b Bradshaw 18, S. Katich c sub (Samuels) b Gayle 25, R. Ponting lbw b Taylor 6, D. Martyn c Morton b Bradshaw 52, A. Symonds c Morton b Sarwan 52, M. Clarke c Gayle b Sarwan 23, M. Hussey (not out) 30, B. Haddin (not out) 17; Extras (lb-7, nb-1, w-9) 17.

Total (for six wkts. in 50 overs) 240.

Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-37, 3-80, 4-153, 5-173, 6-200.

West Indies bowling: Bradshaw 10-2-30-2, Smith 8-1-35-0, Taylor 10-1-36-1, Bravo 9-1-65-0, Gayle 9-0-46-1, Sarwan 4-0-21-2.

PP1 (1-10): 31/1, PP2 (11-15): 12/1, PP3 (16-20): 20/0.

West Indies: C. Gayle lbw b Lee 0, S. Chanderpaul c Katich b Bracken 12, R. Morton lbw b Bracken 0, R. Sarwan (run out) 36, B. Lara c Haddin b Bracken 5, D. Bravo c Ponting b Watson 8, W. Hinds b Watson 0, D. Smith c Ponting b Lee 30, C. Baugh c Haddin b Lee 3, I. Bradshaw c Haddin b Lara 0, J. Taylor (not out) 0; Extras (b-2, lb-8, nb-7, w-2) 19. Total (in 34.2 overs) 113.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-16, 3-20, 4-32, 5-55, 6-56, 7-106, 8-112, 9-112.

Australia bowling: Lee 8.2-1-24-4, McGrath 6-2-6-0, Bracken 7-1-15-3, Watson 6-0-30-2, Symonds 3-0-15-0, Clarke 4-0-13-0.

PP1 (1-10): 20/3, PP2 (11-15): 10/0, PP3 (16-20): 19/1.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport